Poppy or the Snake? (Who's Got Game?) [Hardcover]

Toni Morrison (Author), Slade Morrison (Author)

Book Description

Series: Who's Got Game?

In this clever riff on Aesop, Poppy feels guilty when he accidentally drives over Snake, and he decides to risk being bitten in order to free the sassy reptile. But smake wants more. This is a sly tale about who gets the last laugh.

We, the creators of "Who's Got Game?" were inspired by the wonder of Aesop's Fables -- their vitality, their endless demand for more interpretations. In our versions the original stories are opened up and their moralisitic endings reimagined; the victim might not lose; the timid gets a chance to become strong; the fool can gain insight; the powerful may lose their grip. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN. More than a play on these beloved fables, "Who's Got Game?" is AESOP LIVE!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 1-4. The series of Aesop's fable adaptations undertaken by this trio continues as Poppy, a bearded Bayou-dwelling African American grandfather, regales a small boy with a tale that illuminates the issues arising when two creatures who are predisposed by culture to distrust one another act antithetically to that inclination. After Poppy accidentally runs over Snake, Snake talks Poppy into making amends by taking him home and then pretends to become Poppy's friend. However, a snake is, after all, a snake, and eventually he acts on his nature and bites Poppy. For his part, Poppy is prepared, as any experienced swamp-dwelling human would be, for this likely possibility. Although Lemaitre's nuanced, full-color illustrations have the appeal of cartoons and much of the text appears within the panels and speech bubbles of the comicslike format, this can be read aloud quite successfully without reference to the images. While this series, by Nobel Prize-winner Morrison and her son, has been uneven, this segment is particularly well done, and it will be a hit with both children and the adults who read to them. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Toni Morrison, who is best known for her fiction, teaches at Princeton University. Her novels include Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1981), Jazz (1992), Paradise (1998), and Love (2003).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743222490
• ISBN-13: 978-0743222495
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,654,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She is the author of several novels, including The Bluest Eye, Beloved (made into a major film), and Love. She has received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize. She is the Robert F. Goheen Professor at Princeton University.